Carpaccio

If you`re up for a truly eclectic meal, head to Bistro Tomato in Schaumburg where you`ll be served French and Italian fare cooked by a Japanese chef. And if that isn`t enough to thoroughly confuse you, then picture yourself seated in the cafe that's done up in decor that's strictly Norman Rockwell Americana. So, you might well ask, what kind of food is French-Italian-Japanese? The answer in a word-delicious. Imagine the classic Italian appetizer, carpaccio, done up as carpaccio beef Oriental...

Tribune Content Agency All of us have a fantasy vacation. Sitting on an exotic island beach, walking the streets of Paris on a spring day ... or, in my husband's case, going on an Alaskan cruise to experience the wonder of its natural beauty. We decided to go all out and signed up for a Silversea Cruise. I knew it had to be delicious! Yes, I was looking for deliciousness, while my husband is looking for natural beauty. This was the way to experience both with very happy...

Cristiano Bassani's resume reads like an "A" list of fine Italian dining. He came to town seven years ago as the 23-year-old chef of Coco Pazzo, later jumped over to Bice, and subsequently was shipped to Miami's South Beach to open a Bice there. He returned to the Chicago area to open Carpaccio, a very good restaurant in Palatine. Wherever he went, Bassani's food was vigorous and lusty, assertively flavored and richly textured. When Bassani left Carpaccio and opened the disappointing I Gemelli in...

Not to get all iconoclasty on you, but chefs are not gods; recipes are not sacred texts. If anything, recipes are guidelines, repositories of good ideas. We're going to capitalize on this notion today as we look at fish - salmon in particular, because, as much as we love a good piece of grilled salmon, for the love of Pete, isn't there something else we can do with it? Why you need to learn this We're going to talk about expanding our thinking on the topic of fish. And the reality...

Not to get all iconoclasty on you, but chefs are not gods; recipes are not sacred texts. If anything, recipes are guidelines, repositories of good ideas. We're going to capitalize on this notion today as we look at fish - salmon in particular, because, as much as we love a good piece of grilled salmon, for the love of Pete, isn't there something else we can do with it? Why you need to learn this We're going to talk about expanding our thinking on the topic of fish. And the reality...

Except for specific pockets, such as New Orleans, our country never has been known as a fish-eating nation. The fact that the most popular fin fish that we eat is canned probably says it all. On the other hand, more and more Americans are becoming aware that we should be eating more fish if we expect to live longer and more healthful lives. For me that wouldn`t be a very compelling argument if I didn`t know that fish could taste good. Since childhood, when the only fish I`d...

One of the newest attractions in Manhattan is tucked away where a visitor might overlook it. Unless, that is, the visitor keeps up with celebrity-chef reality shows and closely follows events in the world of haute cuisine. The new major sight, a restaurant, is deep within the ground floor of the Hotel London NYC, 151 W. 54th St., formerly the Rihga Royal. The celebrity chef is none other than Gordon Ramsay, the former soccer player famous for his loud tantrums on "Hell's Kitchen,"...

Banana Moon shines with artful cuisine and artful decor, but slow service and a sometimes-plodding kitchen must improve if this North Shore restaurant is to live up to its considerable promise. Opened in late September, Banana Moon represents a culinary homecoming for partners Alan Wolf and Jason Gottlieb, who are chef and pastry chef, respectively, last seen together in those roles in 1999 at four-star Carlos'. The duo isn't attempting four-star cooking at Banana...

Niche (14 S. Third St., Geneva) has opened in the old Chez Francois space just a block away from where the chef, and most of the staff, used to work. Niche is the brainchild of chef Jeremy Lycan, sommelier Jody Richardson and many other former staffers at the late 302 West, which was sold earlier this year. Look for dishes such as grilled Hawaiian opah in lobster-coconut broth, pomegranate-molasses-glazed lamb chops and, of a dozen or so desserts, blackberry buckle with cinnamon whipped cream.

The following are reader favorites, in selected dining categories, from metromix.com. Favorite late-night restaurants 4 Taste (415 N. Milwaukee Ave., 312-226-7850): "I was surprised by the kind of food this small place had ... foie gras, duck and carpaccio!" Pasha (642 N. Clark St., 312-397-0100): "The atmosphere is excellent and the food is delicious." Harry's Velvet Room (56 W. Illinois St., 312-527-5600): "All the attitude and style of New York or Paris." Iggy's (700 N. Milwaukee Ave.,...

Banana Moon shines with artful cuisine and artful decor, but slow service and a sometimes-plodding kitchen must improve if this North Shore restaurant is to live up to its considerable promise. Opened in late September, Banana Moon represents a culinary homecoming for partners Alan Wolf and Jason Gottlieb, who are chef and pastry chef, respectively, last seen together in those roles in 1999 at four-star Carlos'. The duo isn't attempting four-star cooking at Banana...

I have seen the future of fine dining, and its name is Trio. Trio offers luxury dining in which most of the luxuries are on the plate. It has a front-room staff that anticipates customer needs with imagination and a true sense of fun. And Trio's food, in terms of sheer excitement, ranks among that of such masters of the unexpected as Jean Joho and Charlie Trotter. Many top restaurants offer a dish or two whose novelty causes you to stop in admiration. At Trio, nearly...

Taking advantage of a $999 discount fare that appeared in a newspaper advertisement, I sailed across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary II--the world's longest, tallest, most luxurious ocean liner--and the only ship offering regularly scheduled crossings between New York and Southampton, England. The food was scrumptious, the service impeccable, the 1,132-foot-long vessel a marvel of design and engineering. But before I could feast on Balinese duck and creme brulee during the first formal night in...

Jackie Shen is a talented chef, a powerful presence in the kitchen. Jackie's, her restaurant, needs a strong dining-room presence to balance Shen's strength. A top fine-dining restaurant provides excellent food, wonderful atmosphere and top-notch service. There's no magic formula that dictates in what proportion to mix these components, but at Jackie's, things seem a trifle out of balance. The food in our visits was terrific, but our front-room experiences were marred by...